


Dinner Party

by Andalusa93



Series: Needles and Roses [4]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Dinner Party, Flower/Tattoo AU, M/M, Needles and Roses AU, The Hobbit - Freeform, a few swears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-04
Updated: 2015-02-11
Packaged: 2018-03-10 12:04:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3289682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andalusa93/pseuds/Andalusa93
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part 1 - Meet The Family<br/>In which Thorin hosts a dinner party, Dis is omniscient as always and Bilbo is left on the door step.</p><p>Part 2 - Dis The Omniscient<br/>In which The Boys hijack Bilbo and Dis hits Thorin with a tea towel. (Dish cloth, for non Brits)</p><p>Part 3 - The Harp<br/>In which there is another reference to cake and The Boys invade Bilbo's personal space.</p><p>Part 4 - Fond Farewells (Cabbies Are Dicks)<br/>In which Bilbo falls asleep and Thorin is an idiot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meet The Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Thorin hosts a dinner party, Dis is omniscient as always and Bilbo is left on the door step.

Thorin wasn't nervous. Sure, he had butterflies in his stomach and felt like he was about to throw up. Yes, he had checked his watch more times in the past five minutes than he had in the entirety of his life. He might have been pacing around his house like a caged animal. But he wasn't nervous. At least that's what he told himself. 

He had invited a few of his friends to his house for a get-together under the pretence that his sister and nephews were in town for a couple of days. Thorin had sent out an invitation to his closest friends, who were more like family, to come over for food and drink and a good catch up. He also invited Bilbo, the latest addition to Thorin's inner circle. 

It wasn't a big deal. Nobody really knew his motives behind the dinner party he was throwing. Maybe Dis did, his sister had a way of reading people's minds, of knowing what people wanted before they knew themselves. He was doing this because he wanted everyone's approval of Bilbo. Thorin needed them to like him.

There was a loud knock on the door. Thorin felt his heart beat faster, the butterflies intensified. He took a deep breath and went to answer the door, as he pulled it open, relief flooded him. It was just Dwalin and his older brother, Balin. 

"Evening" Dwalin greeted his host as he entered the house. "You look awful." 

Thorin grumbled a reply and let the brothers pass. Balin gave him a sympathetic look and a pat on the arm. They all settled in the lounge and talked over bottles of beer. Balin was in the middle of telling them about how one of the students in his history class answered all of the questions directed at them in rhyme when there was another knock at the door.

Dwalin snickered when he saw how Thorin's face paled slightly. There was no reason for it as the door opened almost immediately after the knock. A scuffle of rapid footsteps and a unified cry of "Uncle!" later, Thorin found himself squashed into the sofa, buried underneath his nephews.

The boys were the very definition of 'trouble maker'. They were always up to something, Thorin had hoped they would grow out of it, they were young adults now but they still acted like toddlers sometimes. Even so, Thorin loved his nephews like they were his own sons.

"Fili! Kili!" His sister shouted from the hallway, she couldn't even see what had happened, she just knew. "Get off your uncle, come back here and take off your shoes."  
The two boys untangled themselves from the mess they had made and did as they were told, they came back into the room with their mother. Dis swept around the room, hugging each of the men in turn and took a seat in the big armchair closest to the wood burner.

Once the new arrivals had settled in, Thorin went into the kitchen to check on his food and fetch some nibbles and more drinks. He must have been in there longer than he thought, because when he went back to the lounge Dain was sat amongst the group chatting away loudly, Thorin greeted him with a clap on the shoulder after he passed the drinks around and set the snacks on the coffee table.

"Is there anyone else coming?" Dis asked as he sat back down. "Seems like quite a full house you've got here, brother."  
"Uh, just one more." Thorin said quietly with a quick glance towards the door. 

"I don't think he'll fit, Uncle." Kili piped up from his spot on the hearth rug. "Unless you got a bigger table."

Dwalin chuckled and took a sip of his beer. "Don't you worry, lad, Bilbo doesn't take up much space."

"Shut up, Dwalin." Thorin sighed, he pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. Of course Dwalin knew about Thorin's infatuation, despite the fact he had a job of his own, Dwalin spent almost as much time at the flower shop as he did.

"I was just saying, he's only a little man." 

Fili and Kili looked at each other before they fell apart laughing. It didn't take long for Dain to join them, he didn't help the situation by making a few lewd jokes. Dis rolled her eyes and reached out to swat her sons on the back of their heads. 

There was a quiet tapping noise that no one really noticed at first, it got lost within the noise of laughter and merry conversation. It sounded again, a bit stronger this time, only Dis seemed to hear it. She left Thorin to his conversation with his nephews and Balin and went to answer it herself.

"...so sorry about leaving you out there, dear." Thorin heard his sister talking to someone in the hallway and looked up. "It can get a bit loud when the boys all get together."

"It's fine." Bilbo's voice drifted through, Thorin could tell he was smiling. "Anyway it shouldn't be you apologising, it should be your brother."

They appeared in the doorway to the lounge and their eyes met immediately. The butterflies that had all but disappeared made their presence known. Thorin rose to greet his final and, in his opinion, most important guest. A 'hello', a 'good evening', a 'glad you could make it'. Any of those would have been fantastic, all that escaped Thorin's lips was a breathless "Bilbo."

Dis looked curiously between her brother and the shorter, curly haired man at her side a couple of times, a small smile started to form. When she caught Dwalin's eye and he gave her a little nod, she grinned wider.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was going to be a little oneshot about Thorin's harp. (Oh, yes, in my head he plays the harp in this AU)  
> Instead it turned into a multi-chapter family gathering. Only a short one though.  
> I'm on [ Tumblr!](http://andalusa.tumblr.com)


	2. Dis The Omniscient

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which The Boys hijack Bilbo and Dis hits Thorin with a tea towel. (Dish cloth, for non Brits)

The boys, as Fili and Kili were collectively known, were immediately taken with Bilbo. Once he had been introduced to the group, the boys had pretty much commandeered all of Bilbo's attention. Thorin watched them with a small frown, he was glad they liked him, sure, but they were always up to something and the amount of attention they paid to Bilbo unnerved him a bit. 

As time went on, Thorin spent more time in the kitchen seeing to his food, every now and then a roar of laughter errupted from the lounge in response to some funny story he hoped wasn't at his expense. Dis wondered through at some point, she wordlessly pottered around him and helped to clean some of the mess he had made. Thorin could feel her eyes on him but refused to acknowledge his sister, he knew what to expect.

"So." Dis had stopped and leaned against the counter next to Thorin.

"So, what?" Thorin sighed and turned to her, when their eyes met, Dis raised her eyebrows, clearly waiting for something. 

"Bilbo seems nice." She prompted.

Thorin scoffed and turned back to the stove, "He's just a friend." 

"Uh huh." Dis didn't sound convinced, of course she didn't. "Then I must be blind."

With a sigh, Thorin looked down at his little sister, they were so alike. Dark hair, blue eyes, strong nose and a stubborn streak a mile wide. Dis glared at him, arms crossed, almost daring him to deny anything. "Okay, fine, I like him!" Thorin smiled sadly and looked towards the lounge. "I don't think the feeling is completely mutual, though."

"Have you asked him?" Dis asked, and when her brother shook his head 'no', she picked up a tea towel and hit him with it. "You are acting like a lovesick teenager!" She punctuated the next two words with another hit of the tea towel. "Grow up!"

"Says the woman attacking me with a bit of cloth." Thorin countered and snatched the offending piece of fabric out of her hands. 

Dis growled and narrowed her eyes, "Just go out there and ask him, you great lump."

"Ask who what?"

The siblings turned to see the very person they were discussing stood in the doorway. Thorin felt his face heat up and quickly turned back to the stove again, Dis, on the other hand, smoothed the whole thing over with a graceful smile and asking how he was.

"Fine, I just needed a break from the boys, I feel like I'm being interrogated." Bilbo said, then realising he was talking to the mother of aforementioned boys, "No offence, they're lovely, just a bit overwhelming in large doses."

"I know how they can get, don't worry about it." Dis waved the comment away. "Dinner is ready, we just need a hand carrying it all out." 

"Oh," Bilbo laughed, "I'd be happy to help." 

"Fantastic," Dis clapped Thorin on the shoulder, "I'll get the food out of the baskets and into some serving bowls, you two can take it all out to the table."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on [ Tumblr!](http://andalusa.tumblr.com)


	3. The Harp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is another reference to cake and The Boys invade Bilbo's personal space

The food was delicious. So much so it actually caused everyone to stop talking amongst each other and pay their host some compliments. Thorin waved them off, though Bilbo did note a small smile grace his lips before he resumed eating. 

Once again, Bilbo had found himself accosted by Fili and Kili. Thankfully they weren't hounding him with endless questions about ...well, everything. He didn't mind, they were polite enough. Their table manners left much to be desired, though. 

"What did you say this was called?" Bilbo asked the boys. 

"Hangi." Fili replied shortly before stuffing another huge forkful food into his mouth.

"It's normally cooked in a hole in the ground." Kili told him.

"A hole in the ground?" Bilbo looked around the table for confirmation, surely this was another one of their jokes. 

Balin nodded and explained further, about the hot rocks, baskets and the various combinations of meats and vegetables you could use and how it was usually an excuse for people to get together, have a good meal and get far too drunk for their own good. That turned into everyone recounting numerous drunken exploits of their youth, resulting in a lot of laughter and varying degrees of embarrassment. The conversation flowed, there was never a lull, after the meal had been polished off they all made their way back to the more comfortable sofas and armchairs in the lounge. 

Bilbo found himself squashed onto the end of a couch that was probably only meant to sit two people, the boys seemed to have some sort of issue with personal space as they took up the remainder of the seat. He couldn't complain too much, there wasn't enough space for everyone to sit and Thorin had chosen to perch on his arm of the sofa. The older man looked completely relaxed and at ease, his hand rested on the back of sofa directly behind Bilbo and the light of the fire from the wood burner cast the most intriguing shadows on his face.

It was wonderful listening to everyone chatter away, inevitably, the conversation turned to tattoos. It didn't surprise Bilbo in the slightest when he found out Dain, Dwalin and Dis all had work done on them. It shouldn't have been such a shock to hear that Thorin had one small tattoo as well. When they all looked to Bilbo, he laughed.  
"You'd be here all night if I told you the story behind every single tattoo I've had done."

Which was true, every piece of ink on his body had a story, a meaning. Some more trivial than others, but every tattoo was extremely important to Bilbo, he instead told the group about his favourites. The belladonna plant that was the foundation of his left arm sleeve, the vines of ivy the crept up his right arm, the various flowers dotted between the leaves. He tried not to notice the fact Thorin was watching him intently, all of his attention was on him. 

Once Bilbo was done, he let out a breath he didn't realise he had been holding. He leaned back, let his body relax and allowed someone else to steer the conversation, Bilbo was never good with public speaking, especially when one of the audience was a huge slice of cake he was sure he would never get to eat. Bilbo sighed and closed his eyes briefly. If he kept them shut for too long, he just knew he would fall asleep.

Dis was sharing some of the boys' childhood stories when Bilbo felt it, a light tugging on the back of his head. He moved forward, thinking he might have caught the longer parts of his hair in his collar. The tugging sensation stopped abruptly, he felt Thorin tense and shift behind him.

"...when Thorin caught Fili trying to play his harp, well, you know how he gets." Bilbo tuned back into Dis' story as it came to an end, everyone let out a little chuckle, except Fili and Thorin. 

"I can't even count how many times I had to say sorry." Fili grumbled, he sent a glare towards his mother and then his uncle.

"I lost count of how many times I've had to tell you to leave my harp alone!" Thorin countered with a short laugh. "I still have to hide it away whenever you visit."

"It was one time, Uncle." Fili said with a roll of his eyes. 

The rest of the group took the conversation off on another tangent, but Bilbo was still stuck on that little exchange, he finally found his voice and turned to Thorin. "You play the harp?" Yet another piece of information he would never have attributed to this man, when Thorin nodded, Bilbo felt his eyebrows rise. "That's really..." He struggled to find a suitable word. "Unexpected?"

Thorin let out a little huff of air, but grinned down at Bilbo all the same. "Yeah, I get that."

"You have to show me." Bilbo insisted, he threw a quick glance to Thorin's hand, just imagining those strong looking fingers gliding over and plucking the strings of a harp. He took a deep breath and looked back up at Thorin. 

While the grin had gone, there was the ghost of smile still there on Thorin's face, "One day." He murmured, then turned back to the rest of the group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on [ Tumblr!](http://andalusa.tumblr.com)


	4. Fond Farewells (Cabbies Are Dicks)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bilbo falls asleep and Thorin is an idiot.

"Is our company really so boring, Master Boggins?" Dain's loud voice boomed.

Bilbo started and looked around to see everyone laughing, not necessarily _at_ him, but it was still embarrassing. His head rested on Thorin's thigh, which was so very warm and firm and such a perfect pillow. He fell asleep. He actually _fell asleep_ , apparently _on_ Thorin, if his current position was anything to go by.  


"Oh, my god." Bilbo muttered and straightened himself a little bit, he felt his face heat up. "I am so sorry, that was incredibly rude of me, I'm sorry, I didn't mean t-"

"Don't worry, Bilbo, dear." Dis interrupted him. "It's late, I think we're all a little tired."

"Sorry." 

Dis dismissed his apology with a wave of her hand and got up. "I'm going to make a start on the dishes," She announced. "Give me a shout when you all head off." She patted Bilbo on the shoulder when she passed him to go to the kitchen, Bilbo missed the pointed look she gave Thorin, who in turn rolled his eyes. 

.

It was late, people were making obvious signs they were ready to leave, go back to their own homes. Not that they wouldn't happily spend all night in each others company, despite it being the weekend, there were other commitments to keep. Balin had papers to mark for his students and Dain had an early appointment in the morning. Dwalin insisted they all split a cab seeing as they all lived in the same general vicinity.

Bilbo, on the other hand, lived on the opposite side of town. He was almost tempted to ask Thorin if he could sleep on his couch, but decided against it. From what he could gather about the size of the house, there was only one spare bedroom and that would be reserved for Dis, the boys would probably be sleeping on the sofas. He would be getting a taxi for one, then.

When the time came for everyone to say their goodbyes, Dis emerged from the kitchen, hands clad in soapy Marigolds. She quickly pulled them off, ignoring Thorin's protests when they landed on the floor, to give everyone a tight hug and kiss on the cheek. After making everyone promise to come and visit again before they left, she retired to her arm chair and let the actual host of the evening escort his guests to the door. 

.

Thorin thought the whole thing was a bit pointless, they all knew their way to the front door, they would all see each other within the next couple of days anyway. But it was polite and it made his sister happy. Dwalin, Balin and Dain bid Thorin and Bilbo a good night when their cab pulled up, while the two remaining men waited for the other, hopefully it wouldn't be too long. It was a chilly night and Thorin had neglected to put a jacket on. 

Bilbo shuffled his feet, the small movement made Thorin turn his head to look at him, the poor guy looked bone tired as he leaned against the door frame. Thorin smiled and nudged him lightly with his elbow. 

"Long day?" Thorin asked.

"Mm," Bilbo nodded and closed his eyes, "Longer than I had planned, anyway."

Thorin chuckled and crossed his arms, he leaned against the opposite side of the door and shamelessly stared at Bilbo. "Sorry, if I had known..."

Bilbo waved a hand at him half-heartedly, eyes still closed. "Nah, it was fun, really had a good night." He was starting mumble. "Food was good, your sister is nice."

"She'll be very pleased to hear that."

When Bilbo didn't respond, Thorin thought he had fallen asleep again, but his eyes snapped open when they heard the sound of an approaching vehicle. "Staring is rude." The younger man stated with a cheeky grin. 

Thorin didn't say a word he just looked away towards the taxi that had pulled up at the curb as blood rushed to his cheeks. "I guess that's my cue." He heard Bilbo say. "See you later" And he started to walk towards the cab.

"Bilbo, wait." Thorin didn't wait for him to stop, he just took two large strides towards and drew him into a tight hug, he chuckled lightly when Bilbo let out a surprised squeak and loosened his grip. "Thank you for coming tonight."

"Thanks for inviting me." Bilbo's voice muffled from the way his face was pressed into Thorin's chest.

It took all of Thorin's self control to not nuzzle into Bilbo's hair, to keep his hands on his back and not run them down to his waist, to not breathe deeply and inhale the gently, grassy smell that was Bilbo. He should have let go by now, but the smaller man seemed just as content as he was, if only he could actually say what he wanted to, if only he wasn't so scared to admit he lov-

The moment was rudely interrupted by the sound a horn, the taxi driver obviously bored of waiting. Thorin released Bilbo and cleared his throat. Bilbo took a step back and gave Thorin a questioning look, muttered a quick 'see ya' then dashed to the car. Thorin watched the red tail lights disappear down the road before he crouched down and buried his head in his hands.

"Fuuuck."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha, what a doofus.  
> So this is the last part of Dinner Party.  
> I'll be posting a Valentine Special on the 14th, so keep an eye out.  
> Thank you all so much for your feedback, the comments and kudos, they all make my day so much brighter <3  
> I'm on [ Tumblr!](http://andalusa.tumblr.com)


End file.
